ASEAN Ministerial Meeting begins
Foreign ministers and top officials from 10 South East Asian nations are gathering in Hanoi today,
July 23 for their 34th annual meeting, aimed at strengthening the role of their organisation on the
regional and international stages.
Delegation leaders at the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting include:
- Brunei Darussalam: foreign minister, Prince Mohamed Bolkiah;
- Cambodia: senior minister, minister of foreign affairs and international co-operation, Hor
Namhong;
- Indonesia: director general of the Political Affairs Department of Foreign Affairs, Hassan
Wirajuda;
- Laos: deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Somsavat Lengsavad;
- Malaysia: foreign minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar;
- Myanmar: foreign minister, U Win Aung;
- The Philippines: vice president and secretary of foreign affairs, Teofisto T Guingona, Jr;
- Singapore: foreign minister, Shanmugam Jayajumar;
- Thailand: foreign minister, Surakiart Sathirathai;
- Vietnam: foreign minister, Nguyen Dy Nien;
- ASEAN Secretariat: secretary general of ASEAN, Rodolfo C Severino Jr;
- East Timor: special representative of the UN secretary general and chief executive of UN
Transitional Administration in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Melo; and
- Papua New Guinea: special envoy of Papua New Guinea's government, Papua New Guinea's
Ambassador to Indonesia, Tarcisius Eri.
Vietnam's foreign minister, Nguyen Dy Nien, delivered an opening statement at the meeting.
Vietnam's prime minister, Phan Van Khai gave a speech at the opening ceremony.
Nhan Dan - July 23, 2001.
Opening statement by Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien
Your Excellency, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, Vietnam has the great honour of hosting and chairing the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
in Hanoi.
Allow me, at the outset, to express our gratitude to His Excellency Mr Phan Van Khai, prime
minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, for honouring us with his gracious presence and
delivering the Keynote Address at this Opening Ceremony.
I would like to extend the warm welcome from the government and people of Vietnam to all
ASEAN delegations to Hanoi for this 34th AMM. I would also like to extend our warm welcome
to the special envoy of the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea, the special representative of the
United Nations secretary general and chief executive of the United Nations Transitional
Administration to East Timor, and the heads of the Diplomatic Missions in Hanoi at this Opening
Ceremony.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are gathering here this week to review the progress we have made during the past year, to
sort out the problems we have encountered and to work out concrete measures and solutions to
advance ASEAN co-operation in various areas, and especially to promote greater ASEAN
integration, in line with the objectives set forth in the ASEAN Vision 2020 and the Hanoi Plan of
Action. Building on the tradition and spirit of ASEAN unity and co-operation, and with renewed
efforts, I am confident that we will achieve what we have set to achieve, that is, an ASEAN of
unity, stability, greater co-operation and integration, and dynamic and equitable development.
On this occasion, we will also be meeting with our colleagues from ASEAN's dialogue partner
countries and member countries of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). At those meetings, we
will reaffirm our commitment to remaining outward-looking and our desire to further expand
ASEAN's co-operation with them. And we look forward to in-depth exchanges of views with
them on matters of mutual concern and on ways and means we can benefit each other through
co-operation.
As we are looking forward to fruitful and constructive meetings in the next few days, we believe
that in his Keynote Address, His Excellency Prime Minister Phan Van Khai will give us further
valuable guidance in our discussions and deliberations. And we all hope that our meeting will be
successful and the outcome of our meeting will constitute a firm platform upon which our
Association and each member country will enter the 21st century with greater confidence.
On this note, may I declare the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting open.
Thank you for your kind attention.
I now have the great honour to invite His Excellency Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to deliver his
Keynote Address.
Nhan Dan - July 23, 2001.
Key-note address by PM Phan Van Khai
Following is a key-note address by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai at the opening ceremony of 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Hanoi, on July 23.
Your Royal Highnesses,
Excellencies Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Dear Friends,
The final decade of the 20th century has witnessed the growth of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) into an organisation embracing all ten countries in the region. The shared
interest in peace, stability and development of each country and
the entire region have bound all South East Asian nations together in a greater ASEAN family,
transcending their differences in socio-political systems, cultures, customs, religions and economic
development levels. Years of division, prejudice and hostility are now something of the past.
Today, ASEAN is, step by step, asserting its indispensable role in the affairs of South East Asia,
the Asia-Pacific and the world at large through an
array of treaties, agreements and other actions on the basis of the principles of co-operation and
dialogue governing relations among countries in the region and between ASEAN and the rest of
the world, thus contributing to the consolidation of a sound and stable environment for
development.
The trend of globalisation and regionalisation are drawing all nations and regions together into a
whirlwind that can either overturn the ship of a nation or help it sail through the rough seas.
Therefore, how to clearly chart the future course and take appropriate steps suitable to the
particular circumstances of each country and the entire region for seizing opportunities,
overcoming challenges and attaining an optimal position will be vitally important to each member
country and ASEAN as a whole in the first decades of the 21st century.
Excellencies,
The 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and other conferences this week are important political
events for ASEAN in the interest of peace and development. In order to accelerate the
implementation of the objectives set forth in the Hanoi Plan of Action and the ASEAN Vision
2020, I believe that it is imperative for us to make new progress in dealing with four urgent
and fundamental issues:
1. Stability.
Having witnessed the ups and downs in the region in the later half of the 20th century and, most
recently, the adverse consequences of the 1997-1998 financial-currency crisis, we are fully aware
of the costs of socio
political and macro-economic instability that each individual country and the whole region have to
pay. It suffices to say that socio-political and macro-economic stability is a prerequisite for each
country's sustainable development and enhanced international co-operation.
On the basis of the principles of respect for each other's independence and national sovereignty,
friendship and co-operation, we should proactively settle remaining disputes and differences, and
prevent heightened tensions in the region, and at the same time, help restore and maintain
socio-political and macro-economic stability in each country.
2. Unity:
Unity in diversity is a valuable lesson for ASEAN. Similar cultures and shared interests in peace,
stability and development represent a cohesion factor binding all ASEAN member countries
closely together. In addition, while the tradition of flexibility and adaptability inherent in South East
Asia's civilisation has given birth to the ASEAN Way embodied in such principles as consensus,
mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs of one another, we never let down friends in
trouble. This is the very source of ASEAN's resilience which helps us overcome challenges and
seize opportunities. Being united but not inward-looking, being open but still maintaining national
identities are a characteristic of ASEAN that we need to preserve and maximise in order to
enhance our position amidst the trend of globalisation and economic integration prevailing in the
world.
3. Integration:
In the last decades of the 20th century, a number of countries in our region have recorded
miraculous achievements, among which some have been able to join the club of industrialised
countries (OECD). However, many countries are still either grappling with backwardness or in the
process of carrying out industrialisation.
The 1997-1998 financial and economic crisis has clearly demonstrated to us that the rise and fall
of any country in the region would have an impact on others. Emerging from the crisis, our shared
understanding and commitment to strengthening closer ASEAN integration in order to effectively
cope with regional and global challenges have become stronger. The Fourth ASEAN Informal
Summit in Singapore last November emphasized that ASEAN's top priority now is to quickly
narrow the development gap within ASEAN as well as between ASEAN and other regions. In so
doing, in the foreseeable future, we will be able to successfully build a community of South East
Asian nations living in harmony and developing together in a spirit of co-operation, friendship and
neighbourliness as envisioned in the Hanoi Plan of Action and the ASEAN Vision 2020.
4. Outward - looking:
ASEAN, as an aggregate market of more than 500 million people and a GDP of US $700 billion,
represents a considerable force. However, ASEAN cannot continue growing in the absence of
linkages and co-operation with other regions, with dialogue partners and international
organisations both within and outside the United Nations framework, and with economic, financial
and scientific-technological centres in the world. Our commitment to international integration is
moving along the agreed roadmap, our partnership and co-operation with North East Asia,
Europe and Latin America as well as with such dialogue partners as the United States, China,
Japan, Russia, India, the Republic of Korea, Canada and Australia have expanded both in depth
and breadth. This is a natural process in line with the trend of global economic integration.
Therefore, a stable, united, integrated and outward-looking ASEAN, as embodied in the
theme of this 34th AMM, is the goal that we should try to achieve. The agendas of our meetings
and conferences this week, which deal with many practical and specific issues, will focus on this
goal. The achievement of this goal is in the right course of actions for today and even tomorrow,
constituting a solid foundation and a strong driving force for ASEAN to advance with confidence
into the new century.
Excellencies,
Since becoming a full member of ASEAN in July 1995, Vietnam, albeit at a low level of
development, has participated actively in all activities of the association and contributed
significantly to the implementation of ASEAN's specific projects and programmes. Following the
Sixth ASEAN Summit in Hanoi in December 1998 and upon assuming the role of the ASC
chairman, Vietnam has done its utmost together with other member countries in enhancing the
unity, dynamism, and the role of the Association for the common goal of maintaining peace,
stability, co-operation and development. The Seventh ASEAN Summit in Brunei later this year
will review the implementation of the Hanoi Plan of Action and further identify areas of priority and
concrete measures to ensure its successful completion by the year 2004.
Vietnam has made every effort to contribute to implementing ASEAN's consistent policy of
co-operation in all activities, strengthening its unity and collective strength, enhancing its role in
addressing critical issues in South East Asia, Asia-Pacific and the world. Vietnam's ASEAN
policy is an important and integral component of our foreign policy and international co-operation
activities along the direction that we have reaffirmed. Vietnam proactively pursues international
economic integration and is willing to be a friend and a reliable partner of all countries in
the international community, striving for peace, national independence and development. In
this spirit, I am strongly convinced that Vietnam together with its ASEAN friends will be able to
steer the ship of ASEAN to the shore of new success in the 21st century.
Finally, I would like to wish the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and other conferences in Hanoi
this week a great success.
Thank you.
Nhan Dan - July 23, 2001.
|